The Draft

THE DRAFT is a 7min sci-fi short which uses the exciting setting of a TV lottery to address the lack of freedom women can face when it comes to motherhood. In a future world under strict population control, a strong, independent, fertile Kate is drafted to have a baby. Unlike her best friend Jessica, Kate doesn’t want to be a mother and suffers. Her personal choice is taken away at each step and when she wants to gift her opportunity away to Jessica, she cannot because her fertility is a commodity and the presumed fairness of a lottery is society’s way of maintaining equality and exerting control. While the two best friends are ripped apart, unable to follow their dreams, they succeed in awakening the audience and reveal the faults in the system. THE DRAFT is meant to evoke a debate around the lacking freedom of choice women still face today. A woman should have complete control over her body but we can be scorned for not doing what others - and society - consider to be our duty, our purpose as women. This film is about what can happen when our right to be childfree by choice is taken from us. Equality demands that we as women and men respect each other’s individuality and choices, whether that’s becoming a mother or not.